Chapter 408: Rules, Temptation, s.h.i.+nto!
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Sakra sat quietly in the silent cottage. His hands were placed casually on his knees, but he gave out a meticulous and orderly feeling.
Quiet, peaceful, and without the arrogance of the majority of the martial artists in Sacred Martial Hall. Sakra looked like an actual university professor. It would be difficult for people who were not familiar with him to label him as the head of the Criminal Law Department.
Qin Fen walked out of the bedroom calmly and took out a can of vitamin water from the refrigerator, placing it on the table as a show of hospitality, “h.e.l.lo, please wait for a moment.”
Qin Fen turned and walked into the bathroom, splas.h.i.+ng his face with cold water as he finished his daily wake-up routine of was.h.i.+ng up before sitting firmly on the sofa.
Sakra was still silent as his purple eyes sized up Qin Fen gently again. When observed closely, this young man really is unique.
Whether it be inside or outside the Sacred Martial Hall, there were not many martial artists who knew the name Sakra Aziya that could remain silent after seeing him.
Sakra was used to seeing martial artists who showed great enthusiasm after being shocked, and also those who acted as if they didn’t care but were actually the act-cool type of people who were actually very nervous and excited on the inside. However, he rarely ever saw young people like Qin Fen.
He was not arrogant nor worried, as if the person sitting in front of him was not a Head of Department of the Sacred Martial Hall, but a common martial artist who came to the door.
Sakra could feel Qin Fen’s blood flow and the speed of his heartbeat. Besides being slightly surprised when he first heard ‘Sakra Aziya’, his performance was always full of calmness.
No! Sakra shook his head gently and vetoed his own words. This young man’s performance was not calm but was truly indifferent.
Sakra nodded slightly. His purple eyes showed a bit of admiration. Such a young man is indeed rare. Whether it be his mentality, or martial arts foundation and speed of growth, or his combat ability, they were all impressive, very impressive!
Qin Fen, who was stared at by Sakra for a long time, became a little anxious. What is this person here for? Why is he just nodding without saying anything?
“Young man.” Sakra suddenly broke the silence, “I have heard of your name and have observed you. You are very impressive. In the history of Sacred Martial Hall, you are almost the best newcomer.”
Qin Fen lowered his head down a little, smiling politely without speaking. Sakra Aziya, the head of the Criminal Law Department in Sacred Martial Hall. This martial arts master, or a Grandmaster-level figure, would never be too free and just come over to praise a newcomer who had just entered Sacred Martial Hall for no reason.
There must be something! There must be something! Qin Fen remembered what the psychology master, Squad Leader Hao, had once said, When you don’t understand what the other party is thinking, just smile at him and don’t say anything, hide your own cards. As long as it’s the other party who is looking for you, he will have to find a way to talk about the incident. You don’t need to worry about why the other party is not talking, and you don’t have to worry about the other party leaving without saying anything.
Sakra Aziya looked at Qin Fen’s polite smile and blanked out for a moment. In the past, which martial artist who was praised by him not ecstatic? They would even be hypocritically modest. But this young man didn’t even look ecstatic, let alone show hypocritical modesty.
Is it arrogance? No! Aziya looked at Qin Fen’s eyes and knew that the young man did not agree with his praise. It was not because he thought that praise was not enough, but because he didn’t think of himself as a genius. There was no humility and no arrogance at all, everything was in a stable and calm mentality.
“What do you think of the Inner Sacred Martial Hall?”
Sakra threw out another question. His purple eyes became sharp for a moment, staring straight into the eyes of Qin Fen’s as if to reach into the deepest part of his heart.
“Inner Sacred Martial Hall?” Qin Fen thought for a while and said very seriously, “I haven’t had much contact with Inner Sacred Martial Hall. On the surface, they are really outstanding.”
Sakra’s expression showed obviously that he was slightly stunned and that this answer was somewhat unexpected. The relations.h.i.+p between the Inner Sacred Martial Hall and Qin Fen had gotten a little tense in just a few days; he even ended up killing two Sacred Martial Hall martial artists.
It would not be an overstatement to say that this relations.h.i.+p was like everyone las.h.i.+ng out with cynicism in all directions.
Outstanding? Sakra stared into Qin Fen’s eyes for a few seconds, making sure that the young man was not being cynical and was only saying his true opinion.
Outstanding… Sakra’s purple eyes were a bit bitter. The martial artists in the Inner Sacred Martial Hall had always been of outstanding quality, there was no doubt about it. It was a pity that when these outstanding people met this unbelievable young man, it was as if they all became mediocre martial artists overnight.
Sakra regulated his emotions and asked again, “If you join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall and get support from the Inner Sacred Martial Hall, do you think your progress in martial arts will be faster or slower?”
“Faster.” Qin Fen did not even think and answered immediately, “It will be much faster!”
A bit of pride flashed across Sakra’s purple eyes, and he rea.s.sessed Qin Fen again. This was already the fifth time he had rea.s.sessed Qin Fen after entering the room in such a short amount of time.
Every time he a.s.sessed Qin Fen, Aziya found another positive point on Qin Fen. After several rounds of scrutiny, his perception of this young man who had entered and despised the Sacred Martial Hall, as well as refused to join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall, had changed drastically.
Big-hearted, stable, calm, dedicated, no impetuousness, and no arrogance. Even toward opponents who he had defeated before, he was able to give a pertinent and objective evaluation.
Sakra nodded repeatedly. The martial arts road was full of countless accidents and possibilities, but if these accidents and possibilities were tossed aside, this young man’s martial dao achievements might be incredibly high.
“Sacred Martial Hall has its own rules.” Sakra said slowly once again, “This rule cannot be broken regardless of who you are. No matter how astounding a martial artist’s martial dao talent is, we can’t let him have the ident.i.ty of an Outer Sacred Martial Hall basic type while enjoying the resources of the Inner Sacred Martial Hall.”
Qin Fen nodded quietly. Bai Sheng had talked about this situation before. The Sacred Martial Hall was a huge organization. Its strength and influence were definitely not limited to one such small island. If they broke the rules of many years for one young person, the Sacred Martial Hall would not be praised as a saga, but instead a sacred land of martial arts that had bowed to a young martial artist.
If that happened, the Sacred Martial Hall would become a huge stepping stone for the fame of the other party.
There were many ways to be famous in the martial dao world. One of the quickest ways was to kill a divine beast martial artist. Another way was to win against Sacred Martial Hall single-handedly.
If these two things couldn’t be done, using other methods to let divine beast martial artists or the Sacred Martial Hall bow to them would also help one gain great fame instantly.
This way, there would also be huge benefits besides fame!
“Sacred Martial Hall is the heart and blood of countless people.” Qin Fen repeated Bai Sheng’s words slowly, “If you bow to someone, it’s a disrespect to the martial artists who have spilled their blood for the Sacred Martial Hall.”
Sakra agreed with a slight nod, the hards.h.i.+ps behind Sacred Martial Hall having today’s reputation was not something that could be seen by outsiders.
To many of the young martial artists from Outer Sacred Martial Hall, Qin Fen not being given any privileges despite being so prominent meant that Sacred Martial Hall was too impersonal and too proud. But if one were to really say this out loud, it would be equivalent to destroying a part of the Sacred Martial Hall’s spirit.
The rules can’t be broken! Sakra nodded forcefully. As the head of the Criminal Law Department, he had to implement all the regulations firmly! The Criminal Law Department was the place that maintained the rules of Sacred Martial Hall!
“It’s good that you know.” Sakra stopped nodding, staring at Qin Fen with both his eyes, “Young man, whether or not you admit it, you are indeed the best newcomer I have ever seen! Not one of them, you are the only one.”
Qin Fen felt a little bewildered. Bai Sheng once said the other night that Sakra, the head of the Criminal Law Department was not only an extremely conceited person but also an extremely stingy person.
His stinginess was not toward money and goods nor was it toward martial arts experience, but it was toward praising people. He was infamous in Sacred Martial Hall for being stingy and was the complete opposite of Ferrero, who would praise you if he saw that you have talent.
For such a stingy person to give compliments repeatedly, even Qin Fen felt a little proud.
“But…” Sakra’s tone switched, “The rules of Sacred Martial Hall can’t be broken. You of the basic Outer Sacred Martial Hall cannot get any resources from the Inner Sacred Martial Hall no matter how talented you are.”
Qin Fen smiled faintly and nodded. He already knew this about this a long time ago, why bother to emphasize on it constantly?
Sakra looked at the coffee table silently, and once again raised his head slowly to look at Qin Fen. His gaze showed off his cheris.h.i.+ng emotion, “Young man, don’t waste yourself. On the road of martial arts, you have unlimited possibilities. Since the basic Outer Sacred Martial Hall can’t give you more and since you know that the Inner Sacred Martial Hall can make your martial arts progress faster, why go against yourself?”
Qin Fen took a few seconds to fully understand what the Criminal Law Department Sakra was here for. He was here to do the persuasion work that was supposed to be done by Asura of the Department of Military Affairs.
“Sacred Martial Hall has a lot of rules, one of which is that martial artists of the basic Outer Sacred Martial Hall have the right to propose a change of contract. As long as the change of contract exam is pa.s.sed, the martial artist can then become a true martial artist of the Inner Sacred Martial Hall”
The more he talked, the more excited Sakra became till he clasped his hands he had placed on his knees unwittingly, “There is no problem with your abilities, so the contract exam should be easy for you!”
Qin Fen wasn’t used to seeing Sakra’s enthusiasm. This Aziya whom Bai Sheng had said to always show a sour face to everyone and was even the fiercest Head of Department in opposing him in meetings was so enthusiastic and excited today. It seemed that he still had a very fair heart.
Otherwise, with Sakra’s position as the Head of Department, there was absolutely no need for him to lower himself to come to a newcomer’s room alone to a.n.a.lyze and reason so much.
“This…” Qin Fen raised his hand and scratched his head.
A trace of doubt flashed across Aziya’s eyes, then a bright light shone through it, “I know, I know what you are worried about. According to Sacred Martial Hall’s rules, Sacred Martial Hall has a rule that before the a.s.sessment, the a.s.sessors have the power to reject the applicant’s application. Are you worried that your application will be rejected because of your previous att.i.tude? It’s ok! Go and apply! If someone really wants to exercise his right to reject, I will also support you to the end.”
Qin Fen looked at Aziya, flabbergasted. The true emotions of Head of Department, Sakra was truly exposed now. There was a bit of genuine child-like happiness. He was sincerely looking forward to him joining the Inner Sacred Martial Hall. He was genuinely looking forward to the rise of a young martial artist!
Qin Fen could not help but feel a few points of admiration for his thoughts and his previous bad impression of this Head of Department had long vanished.
“You may have misunderstood.” Qin Fen tried to keep his tone as calm as possible, fearing that he would hurt the enthusiasm of the kindhearted senior, “I am not afraid of being rejected. I really don’t want to join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall. The restrictions in the contract are too much…”
Sakra felt like a basin of cold water had been poured onto the top of his head. His face was filled with countless questions, “What’s wrong with those restrictions? Qin Fen, you are the most talented newcomer I have ever seen. As long as you join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall, you will definitely be able to enter the Secret Art Pavilion freely! Don’t you want to enter the Secret Art Pavilion again? Don’t tell me that you look down on the Secret Art Pavilion? Don’t waste your martial arts talent in the Outer Sacred Martial Hall! Join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall.”
Secret Art Pavilion? Qin Fen’s eyes brightened suddenly. He hadn’t even finished his arranging and induction, yet he had already gotten a lot of inspiration from it. These inspirations were enough for a year or even years of perseverance, and was definitely a sacred land that martial artists dream of!
Sakra was staring excitedly at Qin Fen. His words were full of motivation, even the salesmen on TV were inferior in front of him.
“Secret Art Pavilion, Secret Art Pavilion…” Qin Fen whispered a few times, and the longing light in his eyes subsided a little. He raised his head again and looked at Sakra, “Senior, I really hope to re-enter the Secret Art Pavilion. However, I am sorry, I can’t join the Sacred Martial Hall just to enter the Secret Art Pavilion.”
“Why?” Sakra’s confused expression was now a little anxious. If such a promising young man were to ruin his future because of this, it would likely be his lifelong regret!
If he wasn’t able to get Qin Fen to join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall, Sakra suspected that he would still be brooding even on the day of his death as to why he didn’t break the rules of Sacred Martial Hall to witness the rise of an outstanding prodigy but instead killed him with his own hands.
“Don’t you want to spy on the peak of martial dao? Don’t you have a devout heart of martial dao?” Sakra shook his head again and again, “Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! If you didn’t want to spy on the peak of martial dao, if you didn’t have a devout heart of martial dao, you wouldn’t have a realm like today.”
Qin Fen felt respect toward this Head of Department of Sacred Martial Hall. His anxiety and worry could not possibly be acted out, even an Oscar winner would not be able to do such a vivid expression.
“Senior.” Qin Fen gave Sakra a bottle of vitamin water quickly, first calming his anxieties, “Could you please listen to my personal opinion?”
Sakra held the vitamin water and his palms were trembling slightly.
“Senior, the Inner Sacred Martial Hall is really good.” Qin Fen said with sincerity and his fingers crossed, “They have excellent conditions of which I have never seen before, and they have the Secret Art Pavilion that all martial artists dream of. To be honest, all these are really hard to reject. However, I have no choice but to reject.”
Sakra didn’t question any further, he just stared at Qin Fen.
“The Inner Sacred Martial Hall contract demands too much. If I were to enter, I would be severely restrained.” Qin Fen said seriously, “This is not just a constraint on action. More importantly, my heart would also be restrained. There was a day that I really concentrated on martial dao, and I walked through Qinghai on foot and saw a magnificent natural scene. The martial dao fist I pursue is like the power of nature, an unstoppable force. This is why I do this every time I fight.”
Sakra nodded slowly. Looking at the Qin Fen’s information that had been obtained by the Recruitment Department these past few days, this young man was indeed that type of person. He was not only punching, his fists also had an unprecedented unstoppable force.
It was also due to this unstoppable force of his that played an unimaginable role in the battle against Cai Renying when he defeated a fourteen-star martial artist as an eleven-star martial artist, winning a battle that had a winning percentage of less than zero point one percent.
“May I ask, if my martial dao heart is restricted, even if I can improve my strength drastically in a short period of time, what about the future?” Qin Fen spread out his hands, “My martial dao is already restricted, will I still be able to pursue the ultimate peak in martial dao?”
Sakra was silent. As a martial master or even a Grandmaster-level individual, how was it possible for him to not understand this?
Everyone’s martial dao was different. Some people would not be affected by these rules, but some people would indeed be restrained by the rules.
Sakra was silent for a while. The eyes that looked up at Qin Fen were not angry, the purple eyes were still faintly showing his admiration. Even at such a young age, he was not affected by the temptations of the outside world, possessing a meteorite-like martial dao heart was rarer than the achievement of his body.
There was still a slight disappointment in the purple eyes. Without the excellent conditions of Inner Sacred Martial Hall and the help of the Secret Art Pavilion, the future of this young man would be very b.u.mpy and might not even reach its peak.
On one side were the rules of Sacred Martial Hall, and on the other was the unlimited possibilities of a young martial artist. The emotion in Sakra’s eyes soon became sad. As the head of the Criminal Law Department, it was absolutely impossible for him to open his mouth.
The atmosphere in the room was somewhat oppressive. Sakra smiled and wiped away half of the oppressive atmosphere, “Qin Fen, what martial dao road did you choose exactly? With it still being in its embryonic form, I’m unable to see the whole picture clearly. ”
“Divine dao.”
“Divine dao!” Sakra’s purple eyes shone again, nodding his head and praised, “Divine dao! Very daring, no wonder you can’t join Sacred Martial Hall. A G.o.d who is high above is always the party that makes the rules. If he still has to follow rules set by humans, he would not be a G.o.d anymore.”
Qin Fen gave a slight bow sincerely while sitting, “Thank you for your understanding, and thank you for thinking of my sake.”
Sakra smiled and looked at Qin Fen. At this moment, there was no trace of foulness on his face. It didn’t matter how other people looked at him! When someone understood him so well, his cold heart still felt incredibly warm.
He really is a mystical young man! Sakra a.s.sessed Qin Fen. No wonder he could gather a small squad that might have the potential to sweep the world in the future. Although this young man did not have the kind of intimate aura at first glance, his acting and talking style could really make people feel intimate.
“Sakra, you came quite fast…”
An extremely provocative and mocking tone of voice sounded suddenly outside the door.
Qin Fen was shocked by this sudden sound, it was another martial artist that he did not detect at all! It was also a martial artist who could enter other people’s rooms and disrupt the privacy of others without having to use his own badge.
When Aziya heard the sound of the voice, the happy warm smile disappeared suddenly and his face became unhappy and cold, giving a foul feeling.
The door opened automatically, and the middle-aged man walking into the corridor had golden hair, two long sharp eyebrows, and a pair of blue eyes like the most apex-level sapphire in the world. It was easy to lose yourself when looking directly into those blue eyes.
Qin Fen a.s.sessed the person carefully. His height and body shape was similar to those of Sakra Aziya, just that his skin was as white as a baby and was full of life.
This tone that was mocking and provocative was quite nice to hear as it gave off a feeling like an old friend.
“h.e.l.lo, kid. Let me introduce myself: Ferrero of the Invitation Department. The person who people call Mahoraga is me.”
Head of the Invitation Department! Qin Fen was startled a little. What wind is blowing here today? Two Heads of Department of Sacred Martial Hall that wouldn’t be seen regularly by others have blown here suddenly.
Ferrero acted familiarly with him. He didn’t wait for Qin Fen to get up and greet him. He just walked to the side of Qin Fen and sat on the sofa, pressing him in the middle of the sofa between him and Sakra.
Qin Fen watched Ferrero and had a sudden feeling of deja vu. If this person had black hair and eyes, then he would totally be a powerful version of Xue Tian! I’m not sure, but does this Head of Department also have a martial arts talent that is as scary as Xue Tian?
“What are you doing here?”
Sakra’s expression was foul when he looked at Ferrero. As a Head of Department, he didn’t like Ferrero’s character very much. Especially how he would go up to praise the actions of the other party when he saw little talent in the young martial artist. He was extremely not used to it.
That would make young people feel self-righteous and make them impetuous. That kind of praise is not good!
Sakra had told similar things to Ferrero more than ten times, but Ferrero shrugged his shoulders every time and turned to praise the martial art talents he had discovered continuously.
Of course, Ferrero said to Sakra more than once, “Would you die if you praised others a bit? Or would you lose some of your flesh? Young people need encouragement, they need encouragement from their successful seniors especially! That way they will be able to get the drive.”
“They are already good martial arts talents. In the outside world, they have been praised for an unknown amount of time, taking praise for granted. Your compliments are useless! You should use my cold way of treating them.”
This type of argument occurred between the two countless of times. As the number of times increased, Sakra became more and more unaccustomed to Ferrero’s praise of the young martial artists. Often just after Ferrero praised a young man, he would also appear and pour a few tubs of cold water over them.
Thus, Ferrero would again come to the door and argue against Sakra’s theory.
Seeing Ferrero here today made Sakra even more unhappy. He had already praised Qin Fen, if this person used his big mouth that was used to praise people and broke Qin Fen’s martial dao heart accidentally, he would definitely fight with him! There would also be no need to wait until the meeting of Heads of Department to resolve the issues of both sides.
“Why? You can come here but I can’t?” Ferrero put on a daring look and said, “I know what you are doing here, you’re inviting Qin Fen to join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall, right?”
Sakra snorted coldly but did not confront Ferrero’s previous words. Although he did not like this Ferrero of the Invitation Department, he could also see that this Mahoraga had the same purpose as his own and was also trying to invite Qin Fen to join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall.
“Qin Fen, are you interested in joining the Inner Sacred Martial Hall? Secret Art Pavilion is a good place, right?”
“Senior…” Qin Fen smiled bitterly. When did I become so popular? Two Heads of Department are here as guests in just a day. If news of this was pa.s.sed out, other people would surely be shocked, right?
“I… my martial dao is divine dao…”
“Ah… oh…” Ferrero nodded again and again, “Understood, you are not suitable to join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall. G.o.d is the one making the rules, how can you follow the rules set by others…”
Qin Fen smiled and nodded. It was comfortable to talk to the martial masters or the Grandmaster-level people as there was no need to explain with so many words. If you threw a word, the other party could understand your difficulties instantly.
Of course, for Sakra’s explanation, Qin Fen thought that it was still necessary. If his words were too blunt it hurt this cold but kind senior. It wouldn’t be good.
As for Ferrero? With brief contact, Qin Fen had already a.s.signed him to the cla.s.s of people like Xue Tian. There was no need to worry about the person’s ability to handle these comments.
Sakra looked at Qin Fen quietly and gave a deep sigh.
In front of Ferrero, Sakra didn’t like to express his emotions. But at this time, he didn’t care so much. Such a talented young person couldn’t join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall because of the rules, thus he could only sigh to ease the depression in his heart.
“Oh! What a pity!”
Sakra couldn’t even hear a bit of pity in Ferrero’s relaxed tone.
“I say, Sakra.” Ferrero explored Sakra’s unhappy look, “As I said, you really aren’t suitable to be the Head of the Criminal Law Department anymore…”
“Why… do you want to settle the score now?” Sakra stood up suddenly, and all the electrical appliances in Qin Fen’s room emitted a bang at the same time. Huge fireb.a.l.l.s rose out from various appliances.
How could the household appliances take Sakra’s Thunder Arts? Even if he were to casually use his power, it was still enough to make these appliances turn into sc.r.a.p.
“Settle the score? No way.” Ferrero smiled, holding his head and leaning against the sofa, “I am not interested in sparring with you today. Before I came, I already thought that Qin Fen would not join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall. So I planned to discuss a different problem with him, a reasonable way to circ.u.mvent the rules of Inner Sacred Martial Hall.”
“A reasonable circ.u.mvention?” Sakra’s eyebrows became even more doubtful. Rules are rules, how could you avoid them?
“As I said, what you think about every day is how to maintain the rules, there is no change.” Ferrero raised his hand and patted Qin Fen’s shoulder. He said casually, “Kid, are you interested in becoming my disciple?”